RE: Use of restraint [My Broken Jaw & Arabian Stereotypes]

[Kathy Copeland <ponyup1@pacbell.net>]

Very well put !   I totally agree with you.
Kath


I look at it from a different perspective, Lif.  First of all, most
restraints are not painful, unless wrongfully used.  Secondly, use of
pressure points is very useful in humans as well as in animals--not
necessarily as restraint, but for relief of pain.  Thirdly, and most
compellingly, for me--judicious use of restraint can usually keep a
situation from getting out of hand, and becoming precisely the very sort of
"rotten experience" that is, indeed, so difficult to undo.  If the horse
learns from restraint that he CAN survive what is happening in a mannerly
fashion, then the situation does not escalate, and the next time around, he
is usually much more accepting about it.  The secret to successfully using
restraint is to use it BEFORE the situation gets out of hand, and to use it
in a calm and businesslike manner, rather than reacting in anger to
something the horse has already done.

Heidi